Lightning

ARTICLES ABOUT LIGHTNING BY DATE - PAGE 5

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Steven Stamkos, Dominic Moore and Paval Kubina scored goals to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Thursday night in an emotional return for Simon Gagne. Gagne, a playoff hero last season in the Flyers' run to the Stanley Cup finals, spent the first 10 seasons of his career with Philadelphia before being dealt to Tampa Bay during the summer to clear salary cap space. Nikolay Zherdev and Danny Briere scored for Philadelphia.

Everything regarding Simon Gagne's existence right now is all about newness. New city. New practice facility. New locker stall. New teammates. New training staff. New home. Everywhere Gagne looks offers up the unfamiliar, save one -- his jersey. On the back of Gagne's helmet on Monday, and above his locker stall on his nameplate, is his old standby -- No.12, the number he has worn not only throughout his 11-year career with the Philadelphia Flyers, but also since he was a kid growing up in Quebec.

A soldier from Slatington is recovering from severe burns suffered when lightning struck him July 10 at a paintball field near Colorado Springs, Colo., the hospital said. Spc. Michael Montanari, 26, who is based at Fort Carson, Colo., was in fair condition Tuesday in the burn unit of the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora. Montanari's parents, Gordon Montanari of Monroe County and Karen Wall of Slatington, flew out to Colorado to be with him. They said they are happy with the care he has been getting from the Army and from the hospital.

Stress was the emotion of the day Thursday at Saucon Valley where Bethlehem Catholic visited in a District 11 3A softball quarterfinal. No lead was safe, no play was routine, and no one knew when lightning was going to strike again. But on a day that will be remembered for a volatile sky and scoreboard, it was one player's calm that made the difference. Saucon junior Emily Polefka delivered a two-out, two-run single to center in the bottom of the sixth inning to cap a five-run rally and give her team a 15-14 lead.

An autopsy completed Thursday on a 53-year-old Bethlehem Township man confirmed he was killed by a lightning strike, which a meteorologist said happened during an isolated and quick-moving storm. Anthony Vaccaro of 3524 New Hampshire Ave. was struck at 5:46 p.m. Wednesday while using an electric trimmer to do yard work, authorities said. The autopsy at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest determined the cause as sudden death due to the lightning strike and the manner as accidental, said Paul Zondlo, Lehigh County's chief deputy coroner.

A Bethlehem Township man died after he was struck by lightning late Wednesday afternoon while doing yard work. Township police said they responded to 3524 New Hampshire Ave. at 5:46 p.m. and were told by witnesses the man had been struck while using a string trimmer. Police wouldn't identify the man or his condition, but said he was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg. The Lehigh County coroner's office said it is investigating the death of a man at the hospital from that address, but said the cause and manner of death are pending an autopsy today.

A thunderstorm socked the Lehigh Valley on Saturday, dropping dangerous lightning strikes and hail as thick as an inch. In Moore Township, a home at 200 Countyview Lane was gutted by fire after lightning struck the roof about 4:35 p.m. Two people were displaced. In Bushkill Township, firefighters from five departments were battling a blaze that displaced two adults and three children from a house at 739 Bushkill Center Road, authorities said. The storm swept through the Valley in a brisk 50 minutes, said Patrick O'Hara, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, N.J. "It was a pretty nasty storm that went through," O'Hara said.

A fast-moving storm blew through the region Sunday, sending area firefighters scurrying to the scene of at least three apparent lightning strikes in and around Allentown. The storm, which began about 12:30 p.m., was accompanied by several massive thunderclaps and a torrential downpour that lasted less than 3o minutes. The National Weather Service in Mt. Holly, N.J., issued severe thunderstorm warnings for the Lehigh Valley lasting most of the day. In portions of central Bucks County, an urban and small stream flood advisory was in effect between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. "A cooler and drier air pass is moving in, but it was the warm humid air moving ahead of it that spawned the heavy rains and hail," said meteorologist Bill Christ.

There's something about lightning when the Lancaster Inferno and Pennsylvania Stoners get together, and it has nothing to do with speed or heat. For the second time in the Stoners' inaugural history in the National Premier Soccer League, the team saw its game with the Inferno postponed due to lightning. On Wednesday night, the game was suspended during the 27th minute of a scoreless tie at J. Birney Crum Stadium. In the previous meeting on June 14, the game was also halted due to lightning.

We had family visiting last week from Oregon. They're Lehigh Valley natives, so all they really wanted to do was eat cheesesteaks and good pizza, glory in lightning storms and lightning bugs -- they don't have them out there -- and rekindle favorite memories. But their visit got me to thinking. If you had guests from out of town and you wanted them to see our area at its best, where would you take them? One of my ministers used to take his Scottish visitors to Wegmans, which seemed to impress them.